Women (Al-Nisa’)
Verses 41-43 GROUP_124 4.41-43
41
فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جِئْنَا مِن كُلِّ أمَّةٍ بِشَهِيدٍ وَجِئْنَا بِكَ عَلَى هَـؤُلاء شَهِيدًا
What will they do when We bring a witness from each community and bring you as a witness against these people?
42
يَوْمَئِذٍ يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَعَصَوُاْ الرَّسُولَ لَوْ تُسَوَّى بِهِمُ الأَرْضُ وَلاَ يَكْتُمُونَ اللّهَ حَدِيثًا
On that Day, those who were bent on denying the truth and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that the earth were made level above them. They will not be able to hide anything from God.
43
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَقْرَبُواْ الصَّلاَةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتَّىَ تَعْلَمُواْ مَا تَقُولُونَ وَلاَ جُنُبًا إِلاَّ عَابِرِي سَبِيلٍ حَتَّىَ تَغْتَسِلُواْ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَى أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاء أَحَدٌ مِّنكُم مِّن الْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لاَمَسْتُمُ النِّسَاء فَلَمْ تَجِدُواْ مَاء فَتَيَمَّمُواْ صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا فَامْسَحُواْ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا غَفُورًا
Believers, do not approach your prayers when you are drunk, until you understand what you say, nor when you are in a state of impurity, —except when you are on a journey—till you have bathed. And if you are ill, or on a journey or have relieved yourselves or when you have consorted with women and you cannot find any water, then find some clean sand and wipe your face and your hands with it. God is gracious and forgiving.
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Commentary
(a) A dayee or a messenger of Truth happens to be just an ordinary person at the start of his mission. He is not surrounded by any pomp and show. That is why he is rejected by the prominent leaders and intellectuals of society: they fail to apprehend that a man devoid of any outward splendour could be so important that God might choose him to communicate His message to mankind. But when Doomsday approaches and the divine court is ready to deliver its verdict, they will be bewildered to see that that very ordinary man, whom they had rejected as being of no value, has been given the honour of becoming God’s witness and has been set above the nations. In that court the rejecters will stand in the enclosure of the accused, while that ordinary man rejected by them will occupy the seat of God’s spokesman. It will be such a terrible and hard moment for the defaulters that they will wish that the earth would rend itself asunder and swallow them up. But their repentance and sense of humiliation will not at that point serve any purpose. The whole record of their speech, actions and thoughts will be with God and they will be told that their rejection of truth was not due to ignorance but pride, that they considered themselves superior to the preacher of truth, and that the acceptance of reality, despite its having been laid before them, appeared to them like setting their own greatness at naught. (a) This verse appears here to underline the initial prohibition of intoxicants or wine, but it also reveals an important reality about prayer. Prayer does not mean the mere repetition of certain words and motions with accuracy; it must also reflect the concentration of the mind. The individual must say his prayers sincerely. When he is submitting himself to God with his utterances and his body, his mind and intention should also be in submission to Him. Along with his physical obeisance, his consciousness should inhere in his prayer. (b) Islamic law has granted exceptional relaxations under exceptional conditions. Sickness, travelling and non-availability of water—these are three exceptional conditions for man. It has, therefore, been permitted that, if there is any risk to health, one may perform dry ablution (tayammum). The purpose of ablution is to create the spirit of purity: Tayammum is a way of maintaining that spirit when the usual ablution is not possible.